Janet Laurence

EARTH CANVAS

Historically, art and science have been contained in silos that keep the ‘what-if’ concept well away from crystalline fact, but increasingly the curiosity of art is cutting through the closed systems of science to push targeted research towards the radical new discovery. Janet Laurence, one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists, has long fossicked in the muddy space between ethics, aesthetics and environmental science, seeding the dry matter of others’ data in the fertile soil of her concept to frame a case for the interconnection of all things. Alluding to her recent dig into biodiversity with soil scientists, regeneration farmers, horticulturalists and the esteemed ecologist Professor David Watson, Lawrence says that it has afforded great insight into the necessary grasses and trees for regeneration. “Collaborating with the regeneration farmer on this project has been one of the most interesting things I have ever done,” she says. “I look forward to its development and, in this case, it is very important as a way forward.” As to the question of successful joint endeavours requiring the subjugation of ego, Laurence believes that real collaboration is driven by the mutual desire, and engagement of egos, to move an idea along. “I was, in fact, open to new knowledge and wanting a very specific outcome,” she says of the project that will culminate in the working-titled Earth Canvas exhibition, starting at the Albury Library Museum later this year followed by a tour of regional galleries including the National Museum of Australia. “This collaboration has formed wonderful friendships and continues to do so.”